2019 Moto GP Predictions

2019 Moto GP Predictions

The 2019 MotoGP season is about to kick off. After a number of wheel bumping and elbow rubbing races in the 2018 MotoGP season, 2019 is sure to deliver the good's. I'm no newbie to the world of racing, however when it comes down to putting your money where your mouth is for the top 10 spots, let's just say last year was the first time I competed - and I didn't go home empty handed. If you need tips and suggestions to out-predict our compadre's - you've come to the right place.

Let's make things a little more interesting, join our competition and send your buy in fee of $10 to paypal.me/firstcheckpoint using the same email you use to log into SuperBru. Read below for more information on the game rules - really simple and fun.

2019 Motogp Round 3 Predictions: Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas

2019 Motogp Round 3 Free Practice Results

Last year we saw one of the most controversial MotoGP races in history. Confusing weather conditions saw all riders make tire changes only minutes before the start. The only rider who was prepared for the weather conditions was Jack Miller, who started from pole position with a literal four row head-start. This came as a result of every other rider taking start place penalties from causing a start delay with the last minute tire swaps. Then we have the podium - Cal Crutchlow managed his tyres and fought off a last-lap challenge from Johann Zarco which resulted in his third MotoGP race win, while Alex Rins scored his first podium in and Jack Miller finishing on their tails in fourth.Marquez stalled his bike pulling up to his start position and managed to bump start it and proceeded to return to his start position by riding in the wrong direction of the track - this lead to a drive through penalty. After racing like a mad man to make up positions all the way to 5th potion across the chequered flag, he took out Valentino Rossi which resulted in a 30 second penalty and 19th place overall

It's fair to saw that Marquez would have ran away with the race if he had not incurred multiple penalties so he's definitely the man to beat in 2019. However, Dovi knows this and will do his best to keep him at bay during the opening stages which is why I have my prediction for Dovi to take this one, followed by Marquez and the young gun Quartararo. Rin's and Miller showed very impressive practive times and considering their podium finishes last year, I've got them in 4th and 5th respectively. While I'm presonally not a fan of the arrogant Cal Crutchlow, he has shown both skill and speed at this circuit so I will give him the 6th place. Making up the last few spots are the great Valentino Rossi, who currently holds the fastest race lap at Argentina, Vinales and the ever consistent Petrucci and to round of the top 10 I have another young gun coming in the form of Franco Morbidelli.

So I think I have a somewhat controversial round of predictions, but based on the bizarre nature of the race last year, I think controversial picks are in my favor - and in any case, sometimes you just gotta risk it.

2019 Motogp Round 1 Predictions: Losail International Circuit QATAR

With Maverick Vinales looking to be on peak form through out the Qatar testing as well as free practice rides, it should be no surprise that he's landed himself in first position on the grid for the first race of the 2019 MotoGP season. What was more surprising to me is how Dovi managed to pull of the second spot on the gird. He's been holding back during testing and free practice, focusing on developing and improving the bike set up - he's never lost faith in his ability to pull out some crazy fast laps - and it show's. Marquez pulled a few trick's out the bag too. After giving the fastest time of all riders during FP3 I expected him to drop the hammer and claim pole position. He seemed a bit wary to head out into qualifying in front - pulling out of a few laps until eventually he managed to follow Petrucci around the track and use the slipstream to grab the 3rd spot on the grid.

With the first 3 on the grid all being previous winners here, I think we're in for a great race. I still put my money on Marquez after his fantastic display with the fastest lap. I expect Dovi to struggle in the later lap's as he hasn't been pushing himself for extended periods of time during the practice sessions. Petrucci is looking on top form, delivering the fastest time earlier today during FP4 and I've got him slotted into 3rd place, followed by Dovi and the rookie - Quartararo whose got a point to prove.

2019 Motogp Pre Season Testing

Monster Yamaha Set to Take the Lead

It would seem that Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) has seriously hit the ground at full speed. Claiming the the fastest test lap in Qatar. His fastest lap puts him ahead of the field by 0.233s. Although I might question his stamina in the later laps as he only put in a maximum of 8 consecutive test laps. I guess time will only tell as the season begins. Although his consistency is on point with his average time for his 10 fastest laps placing him on the top spot during both the Sunday and Monday test day's.

We are ready to fight for the podium, but getting the victory will be more difficult right now

- Maverick Vinales

For the time being Yamaha will be relying on Vinales to bring home the gold as Rossi seem's to be off pace, both from his teammate, as well as the top contenders. The Italian remained positive explaining that it is a result from putting “everything together”. He managed to snatch up 4th place just behind Marquez

Can Rins Bring it Home for Suzuki

Alex Rins secured a solid 5th place in the 2018 MotoGP season with impressive results. 12 finishes in the top 10, 5 of which were podium spots and only a 28% DNF. He starts the 2019 testing off with some equally impressive figures, finishing day 2 of testing claiming the fastest lap with a time of 1:54:593s which is the third fastest lap over all test day's.

The improved performance of the GSX-RR in terms of stability when breaking, as well as straight line speed, coupled with the natural talent of Alex Rins is sure to make waves in the 2019 MotoGP season.

I’m very pleased because Suzuki has worked a lot this winter to give me what I had requested and they did it. But in any case, to win [in Qatar] is not an obligation.

- Alex Rins

Marquez Leaves Lorenzo Behind At Repsol Honda

After sustaining a heavy shoulder injury last year, Marquez is back. Whether or not the five time MotoGP champ and current MotoGP champ is race fit is still questionable. Similarly to Vinales, Marquez only completed a maximum of 8 consecutive lap's during testing. Despite the set back's, the 26 year old Spaniard returns to the 2019 season as one of, if not the top contender. All in all, Marquez look's strong, claiming third fastest lap of the Qatar testing. Marquez had some insanely impressive figure's last year - of the 14 races he completed, the finished every single on on the podium. If his form continues and his damaged left shoulder holds up, it looks like it could be another great season for the reigning champ.

Some big team changes were made in the name of Jorge Lorenzo, moving across to Repsol Honda as the new team mate of Marc Marquez. Similarly to Marquez, Lorenzo is also recovering from an injury on his left wrist - Not good for team Honda.

It's unlikely Lorenzo has had enough time to become properly accustomed to his new Honda machine, although he already feels like he understands the Honda more than he understood his previous ride at Ducati. I suppose we will have to wait and see how long it will take Lorenzo to really feel comfortable and bring out his best, the side of him that earned him his nickname as The Hammer.

The bike has a lot of power, and we will achieve big things when I get used to it

- Jorge Lorenzo

Petrucci Reveals His Plan At Ducati

Last year's runner up Desmo Dovo takes a conservative approach at Losail testing. Almost as if trying not to reveal his hand and the top speed of the Ducati, while focusing more on bike set up and feeling. He did mention that he did not "feel perfect" with his Ducati. His fastest lap of the three days coming in at 1:55.205s good enough to land him in 14th place over all. Is this a strategic play or he's really not feeling comfortable this time round?

Unlike Dovi, new factory teammate Danillo Petrucci was not messing about. This guy means business. He was one of the only rider's to complete a full race simulation during the final day of testing, despite the tricky conditions. Not only that but his lap times were consistently in the top 10, so consistent that he secured 4th fastest on both day 1 and 2 of testing.

Petrucci's consistency show's in his results last year as well. He has the lowest number of DNF's of the top 10 riders with only 2 failure's to meet the chequered flag. This consistency coupled with his strong performance on the Ducati could set him up as a strong podium contender in 2019.

Now all the rivals know what position I'm in

- Danilo Petrucci

The Rookie's Show Their True Colors

New comer's to MotoGP Joan Mir, Francesco Bagnaia, Miguel Oliveira, and Fabio Quartararo all set themselves up for a tough year of racing trying to establish their position in the competitive set of riders.

It was Bagnaia who showed flames earlier in the Sepang testing when he managed to secure the second fastest test time on his Pramac Ducati. Showing exactly how strong and fiercely competitive the 2018 Moto2 class was, Quartararo follows suit on the Petronas Yamaha and delivers flying lap times in Qatar, snatching up the second fastest lap time of testing, only two tenths off of the fastest rider - Vinales.

This is a remarkable feat considering he is the youngest rider on the grid, and the Petronas Yamaha delivers 500 RPM LESS, than his top contenders. His consistent pace could earn him a top 10 finish in his MotoGP debut at Qatar.

Motogp Qatar Session 3 Test Results

Motogp Qatar Session 2 Test Results

Motogp Qatar Session 1 Test Results

2018 Motogp Season Summary & Analysis

The 2018 MotoGP season was in fact the 70th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. With Marc Marquez coming into the season as the reigning champion. After sixteen (Out of 18) rounds of intense racing, Marc Marquez reclaimed the title as the season victor.

The king of saves - Marc Marquez finished the 2018 season with a total of 9 race wins. Taking home the silver was Desmo Dovi who brought home 4 race wins, followed by the people's favorite, The Doctor - Valentine Rossi. Despite not having a single race win throughout the season, the pure consistency of #46 was good enough to claim the third spot on the podium. The remaining race victories were snatched up Jorge Lorenzo with 3 victories and Cal Crutchlow and Maverick Vinales sharing the remaining two wins.

Based on the above results, It looks to me like there are 4 distinct groups.

Marc Marquez

Obviously we have the season victor, Marc Marquez who incredibly finished every single one of his completed races on the podium - how does even do that?? If you were to take a rounded average of his completed race positions it would be top step every time - do you play the safe bet and place Marquez as first every round?

Desmo Dovi

With 4 race wins and 9 podiums, the cool calm and collected Andrea Dovizioso claims the second branch of the prediction board. With 76 points separating himself from first place, I wouldn't go so far as to say this was a close season. When you consider Dovi was actually closer to third place (Only 47 points) than to first, you might begin to question his consistency as a podium predictor.

Of the 14 races he completed, taking a rounded average of his positions puts him at a safe bet for third spot. Although he had three 2nd place finishes and two 3rd's. His average of 3rd is weighed down by the fact that he had 5 races completed without a trophy of any color.. For the nerds - that's 36%. (6th, 5th, 4th, 7th, 6th). Dovi can be an interesting prediction, I'll have to follow him and the team closely as each race day closes before I can give my final say.

The Doctor & Viñales

These guy's seem to be in a pack of their own. Having the third closest point's difference between them out of the top 10 riders - only a 5 point difference - while there was a fair gap between the riders ahead (47 points) and behind (24 points) them.

Viñales finished only 5 points behind Rossi with a potential podium finish for the season if he had not crashed of the final race at Valencia and instead placed in 7th or 8th - assuming Rossi finished where he did, in 13th.

Taking a rounded average of their finishing positions, Rossi claims an average of 5th while Viñales takes 6th. Even the rest of their stat's are wheel for wheel over the finish line. Consider this, Both riders completed 16 races, achieved 15 top 10 finishes, of which 5 were podiums.

I have a feeling these guys will again be in a league of their own come the end of the 2019 season, although Maverick has made some big changes, which might just put him one step ahead. A new engine, new crew chief, and of course a new number - his childhood favorite number - #12.

The Rest of the Pack

The top runner's are often fairly safe predictions - they're the usual suspects mentioned above. The tricky part, and the part that often creates the divide in your SuperBru standings, come down to the final 7 riders. Highly unpredictable, controversial pick's and full of points to prove - this is where you make it or break it.

While Alex Rins finished off in 5th overall, just 11 points ahead of the the Flying Frenchman, Johann Zarco - I've had my eye on Zarco all season long and I'm expecting pure greatness out of him in 2019.

Okay - maybe not expecting, but I'm dam well hoping to see some crazy Sh*t coming from this guy. While he's definitely not the most consistent in terms of placing, he's had only 2 DNF's in 2018. ONLY 2!! Of the top 10 riders, the only others to have such a good race finish record are Rossi, Viñales, and Petrucci - all of whom also had only 2 DNF's. As if that were not enough, let's quickly touch on the number of top 10 finishes. Zarko had more top 10's than both Marquez and Dovi - both had 14, Zarco upped them by 1. The only other riders that were this consistent were again, the Doctor and Viñales.

Are you starting to see what I'm seeing??

Now I won't go into to much detail on each rider in the rest of the top 10, but here's where my head is at.

Cal Crutchlow

I'm not a fan of this guy. He's all over the show, and quite frankly with his 40% DNF rate (The second worst finish rate of all the top 10 riders) he cost me quite a few points last round of SuperBru.

Alex Rins

He'll be in my top 10 every round. Unless of course he's injured.

Danilo Petrucci

Another very consistent rider, I think I'll keep him around.

Jorge Lorenzo

Risky pick, he's either a hit or a miss. Definitely a podium contender, but also definitely the worst DNF rate of the top 10

Andrea Iannone

While he completes races with consistency, he doesn't quite fit in anywhere. He had 4 podium finishes in 2018, but only 10 top 10's...??

Join Our 2019 Motogp Superbru Competition

We're all here because we love this sport and this lifestyle. I'd like to invite you to join the First Checkpoint MotoGP SuperBru competition. If you haven't played before, don't worry it's really simple - all you gotta do is predict the top ten finishers and the order in which they finish. Plus, I'll be sharing my race predictions for every race, the day of qualifying, so you can even copy my predictions.

All in all, this is a fun little game, and to make things slightly more interesting we're introducing a $10 buy in.

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